Bucks Co. arsons may be connected

In one night there were five arsons in one section of Bucks County, and police have reason to believe they are all connected.The fires happened in the span of two hours within a mile of the heart of Doylestown.

One of the fires was started Friday morning on the back porch of a home. Doylestown Fire Marshal David Cell said "The potential for fire was extreme. There were occupants home at the time, sleeping."

The couple, who spent more than a year renovating the house before moving in this summer, woke to smoke alarms and escaped without injury, but can't live in the house now.

Between midnight and 2:00 a.m. firefighers were called to douse flames in trash cans next to a wine and spirits store on Court Street and to extinguish fires near two other businesses.

It was after daybreak when a contractor found charred evidence of an overnight fire behind a Court Street law firm. He says a drainpipe had been jammed with newspaper.

Investigators have not found evidence of any accellerant. It appears the arsonist used matches, paper, leaves and, in one case, wicker furniture to ignite the flames.

The Bucks County Arson Task Force is helping to sift through evidence found at the fires to see if it leads to an arsonist.